The Lycan King’s Second Chance Mate by Sumi

REAGAN'S POV.

The Doctor leads the way to Selena's ward and when we arrive at the door, Ronald and Kyle take him away while I'm left to go in and deal with Selena all by myself. At the moment, I'm so confused that what I want to do is turn around and leave this hospital at once, but when I remember the Doctor's words about Selena crying, I muster up the courage and open the door to the ward. As I step in, the familiar smell of her pheromone hits my nostrils, stoppingin my tracks. I take a moment to sniff in the smell which leadsto another odd observation.

In the past, when I just found out that she was my mate, her pheromone was like a drug to me. One deep inhale and I was out of my senses. I would start frantically searching for her if I couldn't set eyes on her. My head wouldn't stop whipping around until I found her and if she was around, I would want her in my arms immediately. But that's not the case right now. The smell of her pheromone only indicates her presence. It only confirms the fact that she used to be my mate. It doesn't make my insides melt, it doesn't makecrave her. It's just there, like any pleasant perfume.

Ashanti's pheromone on the other hand does toeverything I just described and more.

Damn! "Alpha Reagan." Her soft voice sounds my nand that's when I realise I've been daydreaming on the spot. I quickly throw my worrying thoughts off a cliff and continue my journey into the ward. I go over to the bed she's sitting on. As I walk closer to her, the smell of her pheromone becomes stronger and I carefully listen to my body for any sort of reaction or to feel any connection with her, but there's none. Not even a tiny bit.

"The doctor toldyou are awake." My voice is nearly a whisper. I stand before her bed, watching her fidget with her fingers as she stares up at me. I take note of her flushed face, wet lashes, and pink eyes. Indeed, she has been crying.

"Yes, I am." "And that you wouldn't stop crying." I continue.

Goodness! She looks so pale and fragile. Her bruises are healing slower than they should because of the absence of her wolf. Selena has always been a thin girl, but she looks too thin right now. She seems to have lost a lot of weight. I want to know what happened to her. Only the goddess knows how much I'm holding myself back from bombarding her with questions about what she's been through all these years, but I know better than to do that. She looks and sounds like she has been through a series of traumatic experiences and I wouldn't want to trigger her just because I want to know the details.

She needs tto get used to the fact that she's safe now and when that happens, I'm sure she'll be ready to telleverything that happened to her. I swear I'm going to hunt everyone involved and make them pay! "I... I'm sorry I... I got scared." "There's nothing for you to be worried about." I take a step closer to the bed. As I attempt to lower myself on the bed, she quickly backs away from me, flinching in fear and covering her face with her arms as if expecting a smack from me.

"Please don't hurt me." She begs and tears stream down her eyes.

Those words shatter my heart into a thousand pieces.

I pause mid-air, staring down at her completely dumbfounded.

Coming close to her unexpectedly, triggered her. She thought I wanted to hit her. That's a sign that she has been through something of this sort.

Someone has been hitting her to the point where she now feels anyone coming close to her wants to hurt her. Now I understand why she was crying a while ago when the doctors were attending to her. "Selena," I call in the calmest voice. She still has her arms over her face so I calmly reach out to them and lower them down by her sides. "Relax." I urge. "I'm not going to hurt you. I could never do that and you know it." She sniffles tears.

"I'm sorry." Her voice is a crying mess. "It's just... it's just..." she hiccups. "I...." "Shhhh..." I finally sit on the bed, holding her trembling hands in mine. "It's okay. You don't have to explain yourself. I understand." I gently cube her drenched face in my hands and gently wipe away her tears. "I know you can never hurt me. It's just that I've been through so much that the smallest thing makesscared." Now is the perfect opportunity forto ask what happened, but I know doing that will only make her cry more, so I don't. I swallow my curiosity and focus on making her feel better.

I seriously have people to punish or execute. I can only imagine what she has been through all these years.

I failed her.

I failed our union.

She was my mate. I should have known the body wasn't hers. I should have known something was wrong. Why do I always fuck things up with my mates?

"You're safe now," I assure her, staring deep into her tear-filled eyes. "No one is ever going to hurt you again, I promise." "Thank you."

My soul skips out of my body when she burrows herself into my arms and comfortably puts her head on my chest. I freeze, staring down at her head that's lying on my chest. My heart is beating so fast, I'm sure she can hear it loud and clear. I bring my hands around her body to hold her and the moment I do that, guilt stabs my heart like a two-edged dagger. This feels like a different kind of wrong.

All shades of wrong.